What was the contribution of Copernicus to the philosophy of science?

During the Renaissance period, three giants of scientific discovery contributed so much to the field of science that the period is often referred to as the Scientific Revolution. The three men are Galileo, Copernicus, and Kepler. Copernicus, like the other two men, had wide and varied interests that he was able to combine into several practical applications or theories.
Copernicus is probably best known for his study and theories in the field of astronomy. Although others had postulated the notion that the sun was the center of the solar system and the planets revolved around the sun, Copernicus published his theory categorically stating the Earth was not the center of the universe. Before this time, the conventional wisdom placed the Earth at the center of the universe and the celestial bodies circled the Earth, not the Sun. Copernicus challenged not only the scientific community at the time but the powerful religious community which had long held to the Ptolemaic view of astronomy.
Copernicus was able to demonstrate using math the Ptolemaic Earth center view was incorrect. His discovery also stated that the Earth rotated on an axis, that the rotation of the Earth was responsible for sunrise and sunset, that seasons were the result of the revolutions around the Sun, that there were seven planets, and that the distance between the Sun and Earth was short as compared to the distance between Earth and the stars. His ideas became known as the Copernican Revolution. Copernicus died two months after publishing his work.
His book was widely condemned by the religious leaders of the day. Due to the complexity of the mathematical computations and the theoretical framework, his book did not gain widespread renown with the public or those outside of the scientific community. Religious leaders condemned the book when it was first published. However, their condemnation was not as virulent as those taken against other scientific discoveries that challenged the conservative religious views of the time.
Some historians believe the reason for the Church ignoring the work of Copernicus may have been because there was a note added by the publisher explaining the book was to improve calculations in astronomy—in short, it might have been too difficult to understand for the Church to take notice. Cpernicus also wisely dedicated the book to Pope Paul III. Both the note and the dedication to Pope Paul III was a gesture to church leaders to not spark a religious controversy with them.
However, his work is considered by many historians and scientists to lay the groundwork for Kepler and Galileo, who would further add to the body of knowledge and scientific discovery in the field of astronomy.
https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1051&context=younghistorians

https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/copernicus/

https://www.space.com/15684-nicolaus-copernicus.html